Roberta Fallon makes art, writes about art and thinks about art probably too much. She’s a co-founder of Artblog with Libby Rosof and now is Artblog's Executive Director and Chief Editor. As a child in Milwaukee, Roberta put on puppet shows in the garage and sold popcorn for a penny and realized she loved an audience but had no head for business. Roberta has an degree in English from University of Wisconsin and studied art at PAFA and Tyler School of Art. She has written for Philadelphia Weekly, Artnet, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, and has taught or been a visiting critic at Tyler School of Art, University of the Arts, Moore College of Art and Design, St. Joseph’s University, Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has juried or curated exhibits for The Delaware Contemporary, York College of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Roberta speaks with the Director of the List Gallery, Andrea Packard, about “Branching Out: Changing Approaches to Art in Wood,” the current show, co-curated by Andrea, and the Center for Art in Wood’s co-founder, Albert LeCoff and his wife, Tina. The large exhibition, from the collection of the LeCoff’s and the Center, presents a wide variety of works made of, with and about wood. The exhibit closes Sunday, March 24, 2019. The podcast interview is 30:54 minutes long.

Now entering its second year,The Velocity Fund, a Regional Re-granting Program of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in partnership with Temple Contemporary, welcomes you, Philadelphia artists, to apply for funds to make new work in the city! Awards of $5,000 will be given in September, 2019, to 10-15 artists, by an independent panel of jurors. Applications open today, March 11, 2019, and close June 7, 2019.

Allan Edmunds is a founder and Director of the Brandywine Workshop and Archives. This great but under-known art and education organization located at 728-30 South Broad St. Founded in 1972, Brandywine’s 47-year history makes for a lot great material to talk about and in this podcast Roberta speaks with Allan in “The Printed Image” Gallery, where they currently present the bold and provocative relief wood prints of John T. Scott. The interview is 36 minutes long.

Roberta speaks with Mark Thomas Gibson, a new arrival in Philadelphia, about his powerful show of Sumi ink drawings and collages at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts. Among other things, the artist, who is an Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, at Tyler School of Art, talks about his ability to use narratives from American history channeled in old masters’ paintings to subvert the story telling and tell tales from our times. His works are filled with humor and passion tinged with anger. Mark talks about Philadelphia and is very happy to be in our community. He’s a great speaker with a lot of big thoughts about history, contemporary art, teaching art and more. Take a listen. Mark’s show at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery is up through March 8, 2019. The podcast was recorded on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. Thanks to Morgan Nitz for the great audio editing!

Two nice tidbits for you, News lovers: CETA gets a light shown on it finally after 40 years of darkness, and Philadelphia Contemporary announces their Spring events, which include a new, Yolanda Wisher-produced podcast series.

Welcome back to the News post. We’ve been on hiatus during the holidays, but we’re heading into an exciting time now with openings and programs galore. Here are three notable things to put on your calendar or to ease into a comfy chair and read. Happy 2019, Everyone!

News: Our Managing Editor, Imani Roach, is closing up her laptop and moving on from Artblog. We will miss her terribly! Please help us thank Imani and send her on her way to a new career adventure! If you’ve been interviewed by Imani, written about by Imani, on a panel with Imani, or edited by Imani, and wish to send her a little note, email her at hello@theartblog.org.

Philadelphia International Airport is not the first place you think of when you think of Philadelphia art. The airport does not have a dedicated gallery space. The airport walkways, where the art is placed, are noisy thoroughfares, with advertising, shops and pop up kiosks, and people, pets and children scurrying to their gates. Where should art be in such a bright, chaotic environment? Roberta talks with Leah Douglas, Chief Curator of Philadelphia Art at the Airport, about how she selects and places art at the airport.

Dear beloved Artblog Readers, We wish you Holiday Cheer, great food, great friends and much love this Thanksgiving! The News Post today has two breaking news Artblog notices. Enjoy the Great Gobbler Day no matter how you gobble, vegetable or other!

The Art Writing Contest deadline for applications is Midnight, Oct. 31. That’s Halloween, yo. Don’t party too hard. Type up your piece while sitting in your costume eating candy. You can handle it! Here’s a video with Artblog’s star Managing Editor, Imani Roach, talking about the nuts and bolts of applying and other aspects of the contest, like the $1,000 grand prize and two $250 second prizes! Below the video are details about how to apply and a link to the Google form for submitting your story/poem/review/essay/free-form writing.

Do you have questions about the art writing contest? With the deadline fast approaching (Oct. 31, Midnight), we’d like to answer those questions. Join Imani Roach tomorrow as she fields your queries and gives you answers! Noon, Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. We love to talk. Come talk with us!